


Clarity

by blackcoffeeandteardrops



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Post-Series, The X-Files Revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:39:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6662854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcoffeeandteardrops/pseuds/blackcoffeeandteardrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the road to recovery starts with small steps. Post-Series one shot, because not enough of these exist, and I write what I want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clarity

**Author's Note:**

> This all started because I was listening to music and wanted Mulder and Scully to dance to a song, just so you know. The song in question was "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton, although if you prefer it to be something else, then that's up to you. Anyway, I don't know where the rest of this came from, but I hope I do it justice. Thanks for reading!

The floorboards of the front porch creaked as Scully stepped outside, quietly shutting the screen door behind her. She rubbed her arms, eyes surveying the property line before settling on Mulder. He was sitting a few feet away, feet propped up on the railing and eyes closed, tapping his fingers along to whatever song was playing from the iPhone speaker at his side. “Everything okay out here?”

Mulder turned his head at the sound of her voice. He took his feet off of the railing and tapped his phone a few times to turn the music down. “Just taking it easy, remember?” he said, a smile playing on his lips. “Doctor’s orders.”

She reached out, fingers tracing through his hair, thinking of all they had been through in the matter of just a few weeks. While it had been over a month since the viral outbreak and the incidents that followed, she knew he was still working to get his strength up. It didn’t help matters that he’d spent the day tending to the garden he’d been neglecting, pulling out weeds and forming new rows, so she knew he had to be tired. It wasn’t something he’d own up to however, especially considering the person that had helped him the whole time.

As if he could read her thoughts, Mulder reached up, catching her wrist and bringing it to his lips. He pressed a kiss against her pulse point and drew in a deep breath. “Where’s Will?”

Scully laughed softly, shaking her head as she traced circles in his stubble with the pad of her thumb. “He went up to his room as soon as he finished helping me clean up from dinner,” she said. She pulled her hand away and moved the other chair closer so she could sit next to him. “I think I heard him playing video games when I went upstairs to grab a towel. It’s only been six weeks, Mulder. He’s still getting used to it around here,”

“Give him another six weeks, and it’ll be out with the chores, right? I gotta admit though, that kid knows his way around planning which seeds to plant next to each other,” Mulder replied. It was easy to joke about what had happened, to skirt the surface of just how close they’d come to losing everything, and how hard they both found it to believe that in spite of it all, the child Scully had given away all those years before was now under the same roof as they were. “He told me they used to go to a farmer’s market every other weekend to sell whatever vegetables were in season. Ours is just herbs and a few different flower species for now, but in time I was thinking we could grow it bigger. Maybe it could...I don’t know, help with the transition, maybe.”

“He told you that?” Scully asked, hoping the surprise hadn’t been too evident in her voice. She focused on her hands, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she picked at a hangnail. “The most he’s told me is that it’s not as cold here.”

Mulder rested his arm on the back of her chair, moving her hair away to massage her neck. “Like you said, Scully, it’s only been a couple of weeks. We’ve gotta give him time, you know? Be patient with the process. There isn’t exactly a guidebook for our present situation.”

“It would certainly make things easier if there were,” she replied, blinking back the tears that began to blur her vision. She imagined various titles like _How to Formally Adopt the Kid You Gave Birth to_ and _How to Gain Back Lost Time_ , and she wished more than anything that they could skip the awkward part and get to feeling like the family she’d always hoped they could be.

It was miracle enough that she was able to get to him in time--though not soon enough for his adoptive parents to have received the vaccine, unfortunately--and that he’d even agreed to come to D.C. for the transplant. While William was aware of who they were and knew some of what had led to their current situation, she knew the conversations weren’t over yet. They had at least started though, including a talk a week after they’d had it cleared for him to live with them, during which he confessed he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to call them. He’d also ducked his head, shrugging his shoulder in a way that undeniably made him look like his father as he informed them that he liked to be called Will.

“There’s something else bugging you though, isn’t there?” Mulder asked, his gaze to breaking away even as Scully stared out into the yard. “You’ve been quiet ever since you got back from the city today. What’s going on?”

Scully shook her head, debating how best to bring up the subject. Since he’d been released from the hospital, she’d quietly returned to the FBI a few days a week. Part of her time was spent filing reports on her research of the virus, although she knew the real cause would never become a part of public record, and the other part had been in filling in a teaching position at Quantico. She’d always speed back home however, afraid that in the few hours she’d been gone Will would have disappeared or something would’ve happened to Mulder. “Skinner called me into his office today. He asked if you were planning on coming back.”

Mulder nodded, chuckling to himself because he knew it’d been coming. “How am I just supposed to go back to investigating lizard men at truck stops and strange furry creatures in the woods after what happened to me--what happened to everyone?”

“You don’t have to go back, Mulder, and if you do, it doesn’t have to be for the X-Files. But if it is, then it’ll be the same way we’ve always done it,” she replied, a sincerity until that moment she wasn’t certain she felt.

He felt something tug in his chest at her choice of pronoun, and he thought back to the conversation they’d had after she scattered Maggie’s ashes, about how she’d always be there beside him. It had been a given fact long before that moment, but even then they had no idea what they still had left to endure. He thought of the copper-haired teenager sitting upstairs, and he felt a certain sense of pride at some of her mysteries having been answered. The air grew quiet around them and the music grew a little louder, although this song was slower than the previous one. He debated it for a second before standing up and reaching for her hand.

“Mulder, what are you doing?”

“Come on,” he said, rolling his shoulders forward a few times to try and relax. He listened to the song, the way the guitar sounded soulful without growing too melancholy, and again he gestured for her to stand. “Dance with me, Scully.”

She quirked an eyebrow, suspicious of his intentions as she stood up, clasping one of his hands with her own and resting the other against his chest. A blush crept across her cheeks as they slowly started to sway. “What’s gotten into you? You certainly seem to be feeling better.”

He gripped her hips, pulling her closer to him as the song continued. “You could say that, I guess.”

She hadn’t taken off her boots since getting home, but their height difference still made it possible for her to rest her head against his shoulder, a place she had always known as home. She closed her eyes for a moment, getting lost in the sounds of the music and feeling the thumping of his heartbeat against her cheek--something mere weeks before had nearly stopped--until the sound of the screen door opening brought them both to their senses. Scully was the first to break away, directing her attention to the boy standing in the doorway. “William,” she said, pausing at the way he took a step back, still holding onto the handle. “Is everything alright? Did you need anything?”

“Sorry, guys. I wasn’t trying to interrupt. I, uh…” William trailed off, kicking at a stray pebble and watching as it skittered off into the yard. He closed the screen door, stuffing one hand into the pocket of his jeans and running the other through his auburn hair, as if he were borrowing a few extra seconds before speaking. “You said earlier we could get the telescope out. I guess I was just wondering when we could do that, ‘cause it’s dark out now.”

It took Mulder a few moments to realize the words were directed at him. Since coming back to the house, pretty much any plans had been initiated by Scully or himself. It usually resulted in the three of them watching movies on the couch or taking Daggoo out for a walk so William could see the rest of the property (and so Scully could see for herself that he was able to walk more than a few feet without needing help, not that she’d admit that). While the original plan of looking up at the stars and pointing out constellations had been his idea, William bringing it up again reflected interest he couldn’t help feeling happy about. They’d taken it easy with him, waiting for him to feel more comfortable, but Mulder knew better than to waste such an opportunity. “Sure thing, yeah. You picked a good night for it.”

“Cool. So, uh, out in the yard I guess?” William asked. “Where’s the best spot?”

“I usually set up out back. I’ll go grab the telescope now,” Mulder replied, heading inside.

William followed suit, stopping when he realized Scully wasn’t behind him. “Are you coming?”

The question caught her off guard, because of course she’d had every intention of joining them, but his expressed interest made her feel more strongly about it. She’d been careful not to press the issue of doing joint activities too much for fear it would spurn him away. Having William with them was more than enough for now, but she wasn’t about to miss such an opportunity. “Of course, I’d love to. Let’s go.”

A few minutes later they were all standing in the backyard, Daggoo circling their feet as Mulder fiddled with the knobs of the telescope to make sure everything was lined up correcty. “There we go,” he said, adjusting the settings for a few more seconds before stepping back. “You picked a good night, kid. Wanna take a look?”

“I’ve never used one like this before,” William replied, stepping closer. “The one we had at home was just a cheap model from Wal-mart. I don’t wanna mess it up.”

“You’re not going to, trust me. Scully can tell you, I nearly broke the thing the first week I bought it, trying to get everything right. Here,” Mulder paused, indicating a spot above them. “If you look, The Big Dipper is over there--”

“Also known as Ursa Major, right?” William asked, but by the time he got the question out, he’d already focused his attention through the telescope, intent on seeing the constellation Mulder had pointed out. “Wow, this thing is really clear.”

“Right,” Mulder replied, laughing in agreement. The excitement in the boy’s voice was contagious. He leaned over, resting a hand on William’s shoulder. “If you look over there, you can see Cassiopeia. Named after the wife of King Cepheus, according to mythology. In fact, she--”

“Where?” William asked, breaking away for a moment as Mulder better directed the telescope so he could see it. “Oh yeah, okay. Cool. Hey, come look.”

Scully couldn’t help the flip her stomach did when he excitedly turned to her, beckoning her to join in gazing up at the stars. The time would come where she wouldn’t fear that he’d disappear every time she closed her eyes, but that moment hadn’t happened yet. “Where am I looking?”

“Over there,” William said, surprising them both as he named a few individual stars within the constellation. “I paid attention in science, I guess. Most kids in my class thought I was a nerd for it, but it was kind of fun.”

“You gotta be careful saying stuff like that around Scully, Will. She’ll have you doing experiments in no time,” Mulder joked, but he knew it wasn’t a laughing matter. The idea that their son was interested in science and learning new things made him happy, but he was willing to bet it thrilled Scully even more.

They stood outside for a bit longer, too distracted by the night sky and the chance to do something together to worry about keeping track of the time. It wasn’t until they heard Daggoo barking and scratching at the door to get back inside that it occurred to any of them how late it was. “I guess we should head back in. He’ll only keep doing that if we don’t,” Scully said.

Mulder started taking down the telescope, turning in her direction as he spoke. “You should’ve known he’d be like this, Scully, given how much he barked the day you stole him.”

“Wait. You _stole_ him? From who? How am I just now hearing about this?” William asked, firing the questions at her with a grin, eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Scully pretended to glare at Mulder over his shoulder for a moment before focusing her attention back on him. “I didn’t steal him, technically, I...merely saved him from what would’ve been a bad situation. Let’s go into the kitchen, I think there’s some hot chocolate with your name on it. I can tell you the real story.”

“Real story, Scully?” Mulder asked, knowing full well she’d leave a few choice parts out. He didn’t blame her though, because some parts of it he still had trouble wrapping his head around himself. He went to put the telescope away, joining the other two in the kitchen as they set about making the hot chocolate. While it wasn’t particularly cold out, he was amused at the number of miniature marshmallows William was shoving on top of his mug. “You know,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table. He took the mug Scully offered him, raising it in her direction before taking a sip. “You left out the part where he bit you. He could’ve had rabies or something worse even, and yet your bring him here.”

“He what?” William asked, finding the idea amusing for a reason neither of the adults could figure out, both attributing it to him growing more comfortable with his surroundings. Scully didn’t have a chance to defend herself however, because William inadvertently bumped his mug on the way to grabbing more marshmallows, causing some of his drink to spill. “I’ll clean it up. Sorry.”

“It’s not a problem, Will, it’s okay,” Scully assured him, watching in curiosity as he jumped up from the table, hurriedly grabbing a roll of paper towels to clean up his mess. She watched as he dried it up before grabbing a damp cloth, dabbing at the table to make sure the surface wasn’t left sticky, and she wondered briefly where he’d learned such manners. Sadness crept into her consciousness, because she knew such a thing hadn’t been learned in the short time he’d been with them, but she was glad he’d had adoptive parents who had instilled in him important things such as cleaning up after himself. Fleetingly, she remembered the stars they’d just seen outside, and she wondered if he’d ever had the glow in the dark kind stuck on his ceiling he was younger. Those are times they’ll never get back, she thought with a pang of guilt. But as he rejoined them at the table, wiping at the hot chocolate mustache on his upper lip, she felt glad they now had the chance to forge new memories of their own.


End file.
